The 11th Wise Men Board Meeting

On the 3rd of June, 2011 the 11th Wise Men Board Meeting was held at the headquarter of the Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies (BILGESAM). The Wise Men Board assessed the report, Strategy for the Fight Against Terror, which suggests a strategy consisting of four dimensions for Turkeys fight against the PKK terrorist organization.

The meeting was held under the presidency of the Ret. Full Admiral Salim Dervişoğlu and with the participation of the Wise Men Board members, Executive Board members and the Board of Trustee. Among the Wise Men Board members as participants were the Ret. Minister İlter Türkmen, Prof. Dr. Sami Selçuk, Ret. Minister-Governor Kutlu Aktaş, Ret. Ambassador Güner Öztek, Ret. Ambassador Özdem Sanberk, Ret. General Oktar Ataman, Ret. General Necdet Timur, Prof. Dr. Ali Karaosmanoğlu, Prof. Dr. İlter Turan, Prof. Dr. Ersin Onulduran and Prof. Dr. Çelik Kurtoğlu. Of the Ececuitve Board of BILGESAM, Prof. Dr. M. Oktay Alnıak, Prof. Dr. Hasret Çomak and Assoc. Prof. Atilla Sandıklı participated in the meeting. Among the Board of Trustee, İlker Veli was the participant.

Within the scope of the meeting, Assoc. Prof. Atilla Sandıklı, the President of BILGESAM, explained the activities of BILGESAM that have been held since the previous Wise Men Board Meeting and presented the report (later to be turned into a book) Strategy for the Fight against Terror. Wise Men Board members put their own assessments related to the report,Strategy for the Fight against Terror. It was also decided to be published among the reports of the Wise Men Board under the light of the views and suggestions of the members. The report proposes the establishment of a new institution under the name of the General Assemby for the Fight against Terror that embodies executive power and responsibility. Additionally, it suggests a coordination model that comprises the National Security Council and the Undersecretariat of Public Order and Security.

The report Strategy for the Fight against Terror presents strategies concerning the democratization dimension, socio-cultural and socio-economic dimension and the dimensions of security and international relations regarding counter terrorism. Within the scope of the democratization dimension, the report emphasizes the need for the development of democratic values on the basis of freedoms. For the socio-economic dimension of the fight against terror, it focuses on the strategies and projects on economy, agriculture, animal husbandry, trade, industry, tourism and health. As for its socio-cultural dimension, the report deals with the strategies and projects of education, communication, media and administration and the social, socio-cultural and psychosocial strategies and projects. Within the scope of the security dimension (which aims at the dissolution of the armed terrorist organization), steps such as the improvement of woodward system1, modernization of the security forces, establishment of the coordination that would ensure both the rural and urban integrity are touched upon. Within the context of the international dimension of the fight against terror, there have been offered concrete proposals with the purpose of minimizing the foreign aid to the PKK organization, which could be realized by use of any means and possibilities, under proper conditions and in a way that will not risk the continuity of the country.

Footnotes:

1. A kind of wardership that was first established for the protection of forests, then the protection of villagers from terror in the eastern and southeastern of Turkey.